Dear Tom and Ray: Back in the 1980s and ’90s, there were some ultra-efficient cars like the Suzuki Swift, Honda CRX and Honda Civic. I owned a VW Rabbit diesel that got 45 miles per gallon with my lead foot. All sold for under $15,000 and had real mileage ratings of 45 mpg or more. Even factoring in inflation, I’m curious why we have to pay an extra $5,000-
$10,000 for hybrid technology to get the same mileage that a good old-fashioned, gas-only car was able to achieve 20 years ago.
– John
Tom: That’s a good question, John. There are several answers.
Ray: One is that there’s a lot of stuff on cars today that wasn’t required or expected on cars 20 years ago. There are anti-lock braking systems, side- curtain air bags, reinforced beams in doors, electric windows, butt warmers, butt coolers and butt jigglers, just to name a few things. So, economy cars now weigh a lot more than they did back then because our expectations for even entry-level cars have increased. As a result, today’s economy cars are a lot safer and more comfortable than the tin-can deathtraps you mention.
Tom: Second, cars today are bigger than they were 20 years ago, with more interior room. Look at today’s Honda Civic. It’s as big as the larger Honda Accord used to be in the ’80s. Every time a model is redesigned, it seems, it gains a few inches in each direction (like its owners, I guess), so even our small cars are pretty big.
Ray: Finally, and probably most important, we’ve gone horsepower-crazy. Back in the early ’80s, when we gave a whit about fuel economy, the average car had about 100 horsepower. A small family car like the 1982 Honda Accord had 75 hp. By comparison, a 2007 four-cylinder Accord has 166 hp.
So, in the past 25 years, instead of taking all of the technological advances we’ve made and making a 120-hp Accord that gets 60 mpg, we have a 244-hp Accord that gets 30 mpg.
Tom: Why is that? Because of some combination of (A) that’s what we want and (B) the carmakers have made us think that’s what we need. But we don’t. Is it really more important for us to get from zero to 60 mph a few seconds faster than for America to be energy-
independent and not have to fight oil wars in the Middle East and pay through the nose for gasoline? Not to me, it isn’t.
Ray: Now, $3-a-gallon gasoline might change our opinions of what we need; in fact, it’s already changing them. Huge, heavy SUVs with overpowered engines are getting a lot harder to sell.
Tom: An increasing number of carmakers are starting to step in with just the kind of cars you’re asking about, John. They’re not getting 45 mpg, but they’re getting close. And they’re a heckuva lot safer and more comfortable than economy cars of 20 years ago.
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